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List of words having different meanings in British and American English
List of words having different meanings in British English and American English
- See also main article: American and British English Differences
- list of British English words not used in American English
- list of American English words not used in British English
| Word | British meaning | American meaning |
| alternately | in alternation; every other one | alternatively; as an alternative |
| ass | donkey (burro) | arse[?] (buttocks), but also donkey |
| Asian | coming from India, Pakistan etc. | East Asian, continental Southeast Asian. In UK, this use is replaced by "Oriental"; however, in US, "oriental" increasingly considered insulting. |
| band | a strap | a finger-ring |
| biscuit | cracker or cookie | similar to a scone or Welsh cake, except without any fruits or nuts |
| bum | butt (buttocks) | hobo, homeless person. But sometimes buttocks |
| cafe | diner[?] | French cafe |
| chemist | pharmacist, pharmacy | a person whose profession is chemistry (also British) |
| chips | french fries | crisps |
| chippy | carpenter or fish and chip shop | loose woman (rare) |
| chum | buddy (usu ironic) | waste products from fish processing (heads, tails, blood etc.) often used for shark fishing. |
| dead beat, deadbeat | exhausted | the latter is used as welsher, someone who does not pay their debts, the former sometimes as exhausted |
| dummy | pacifier[?] | mannequin, esp. for automobile crash tests, fool (also British) |
| entrée | starter (first course) | main course |
| fag | cigarette | short for faggot, an insulting term for a male homosexual (also British) |
| fanny | vagina | buttocks (not obscene) |
| first floor (of a building) | the floor above ground level | the floor at ground level |
| ground floor (of a building) | the floor at ground level | sometimes used, but American English prefers 'first floor' |
| homely | (Of a house) Comfortable, cozy, rustic. (Of a person) Home-loving, domesticated, house-proud. | (Only used of a person) Plain, Ugly. |
| jock | Slang term for a Scotsman or a Scots dog. | Slang term for an athlete |
| let | allow, rent (an apartment) | allow |
| lounge | living room[?] | noun: a bar (pub); verb: to laze about, to relax (also British) |
| knock up | manufacture hastily; practise before tennis; wake up by knocking (also make pregnant) | make pregnant |
| mad | insane | angry |
| mate | friend | spouse |
| mean | stingy, miserly, selfish | angry, cruel, vicious |
| muffler | scarf | silencer (on automobile/car/gramophone) |
| outside lane | the lane closest to the median or central reservation. | the lane furthest from the median or central reservation. In both cases this will be the rightmost lane. |
| pants | underpants (usu y-fronts) | trousers |
| paraffin | kerosene | a waxy fraction of petroleum commonly used to make candles (British "paraffin wax") |
| pavement | sidewalk | asphalt; the road surface |
| pint, quart, gallon | Approx. 1.2 times US measure (mnemonic: "a pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter"). | Approx. 5/6 British (imperial) measure (mnemonic: "a pint's a pound the world around", which it plainly isn't) |
| pissed (of a person) | drunk | angry (British used pissed off for this) |
| pud | short for pudding, as in "Christmas Pud" (rhymes with "good") | penis (rhymes with "mud") |
| quite good | mediocre, acceptable | excellent |
| (to) ring | to call (someone) | to make a bell-like sound; you cannot ring people unless they are wearing a bell. (Note: "To give someone a ring" is to call someone in British English, while in American English it's to give an ornamental band to someone) |
| a rubber | eraser | condom |
| rubbish | garbage[?]; trash | understood by Americans as a Britishism unless referring to arguments where bad arguments are called rubbish |
| shag | to copulate, or copulate with | a type of carpet, or a kind of a dance (also to copulate) |
| shop | store (retail) | workshop; also store |
| silencer | silences car (automobile), gun | silences firearm |
| skillet | (regional dialect) a frying pan, as well as a type of stir-fried food item | a frying pan, often cast iron. Also a long-handled stewing pan or saucepan, often having legs |
| (to) slate | to disparage | to schedule |
| solicitor | lawyer | door-to-door salesman |
| spunk | semen (though also sometimes used for courage, sauciness) | courage, sauciness (though also sometimes used for semen) |
| squash | fruit cordial drink; (rarely) vegetable | vegetable |
| subway | pedestrian underpass | underground rail system |
| suspenders | elasticated support for stockings | elasticated support for trousers (i.e. braces) |
| tap | faucet[?] | device for dispensing beer from a keg[?], sometimes means faucet (especially in "tap water") |
| tea | A beverage, usually taken hot with milk; and variously an afternoon snack or an evening meal | a beverage, in some regions usually taken cold with lemon and sugar |
| torch | flashlight or burning stick | burning stick |
| tramp | a homeless person | a loose woman (sometimes a homeless person) |
| vest | equivalent of an undershirt in US | equivalent of waistcoat in the UK |
| wash up | wash the dishes (more generally, to clean after eating food) | wash your hands (more generally, to clean before eating food) |
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